


The Chair and The Bed and The Name

by Orpheus_I_Dont_Feel_So_Good



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: 10/10 would punch this oc, Abusive Relationships, Eating Disorders, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-05-14 04:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orpheus_I_Dont_Feel_So_Good/pseuds/Orpheus_I_Dont_Feel_So_Good
Summary: The abusive boyfriend trope that we all love and then feel guilty for liking because it always makes Peter get hurt.---This shouldn't have happened. He was Spider-Man, he stopped people like this, yet he couldn't manage to stand up for himselg when he really needed it. Would Mr. Stark still believe Peter was a hero even if he couldn't save himself? Would May be angry that she'd have to break up with Brian because he hurt Peter? There were too many questions, and all Peter wanted to do was sleep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This took me a while to write because my computer broke in the middle of it and my usual beta was out of town. Many thanks to snarkymuch and erica45 for looking over this at the end!

It was one month ago. One month when all of this ‘stuff’ happened. It all began with a question. One fateful question that seemed insignificant at the time, but proved to be quite the opposite.

 

“Is it okay if I go out with a friend of mine tonight? I'll be back by eight at the latest.” Aunt May had asked. He hadn't thought much of it. He hadn't stopped to think who this friend was or who they would become to May. He hadn’t thought.

 

So he said “yes.”

 

She deserved this. She deserved to go out with her friends (friend? He really hoped it was friends rather than one. singular. ‘friend’ because that meant it could be a boyf- he wouldn’t finish that thought. It was too much to think about. Not worth the worry.) without Peter tagging along. She should enjoy the life she would've had if she hadn't gotten stuck with Peter.

 

Although he regretted it, he'd always say yes to a question like that. There were just certain questions like that that the answer would always be ‘yes.’ Like “did you have a good school day?” And “are you okay?” He just couldn't answer no and worry her more than she deserved. She deserved to be happy.

 

In the next few weeks she had been spending more and more time out with her ‘friend.’ When she came home, she'd be lighter on her feet. Her smiles seemed as if they had been revived from they had fallen into in the time following his reveal to her as Spider-Man. 

 

She deserved this he'd tell himself when May had asked “Do you mind if I stay at my friend's house overnight?” He knew it'd be lonely when his advanced senses couldn't pick up her steady breathing across the hall. The reassuring thump of her heart. It hadn't meant much to him before, but now that it was gone, he missed it. It was pathetic and sad that something as simple as a steady thump of a valve opening and closing could keep him awake throughout the night.

 

He had gotten better at sleeping in an empty apartment, but it was upsetting that he had to. He'd come home at least twice a week to discover May had went out with her ‘friend’ and would be staying the night. It shouldn't bother him, he usually spent most of the night spider-manning anyways, but to come home without the normal flurry of May rushing in his room to make sure he wasn't injured or hurt was lonely

There were certain constants in his life, ones that he had believed would never go away, like May being there for him after returning from a rough patrol, or the kind sound of her wishing him a good night and her slow, even breathing when she lied down for sleep. Now that they were gone, it felt as if the ground had been ripped from below his feet. May deserved this though. She worried about him often enough, she should be allowed to make herself happy for a few nights a week.

For the third that week Peter lay down to sleep in an apartment filled with only the sounds he, himself, made.

\---

May must've returned sometime later that night because when Peter had finally gotten awake enough to somewhat function she was sitting in the kitchen with two bowls of cereal. One for him, one for her.

 

This always meant she wanted to talk to him about something important.

 

About what? Sure, he'd been staying out later on nights that she wouldn't be home, but with enhanced senses that were always, well, sensing something the sudden silence of her not being there was unnerving. He hadn't done too well on the English quiz a few days ago, but then again he hadn't done too bad. There was no reason that he could come up with that she would want to talk to him. Or...

Was this… Was this about her ‘friend?’

“Peter, I've been meaning to talk to you about something...” It was clear in her eyes and her fidgeting hands she was nervous about whatever she needed to talk to him about.

“Okay..” Peter tried to sound reassuring, but in the end he sounded just as nervous as she was.

“I, well, I met someone at work,” she stuttered out. 

“That's great May!” Lie. Or at least half lie, it was true for her at least. the bags under his eyes would vouch for Peter saying that it wasn't so great for him.

“Um, yeah, it is. And we really, how do I say this, hit off? And I've been spending more time with him recently, and I was wonderingifyoudliketomeethim,” she rushed out finally looking straight at Peter and meeting his eyes.

“Sure! It'd be great to meet him since he makes you so happy!” Maybe then they'd spend time in their house. Maybe then May would actually be able to see him more than the few afternoons a week where she'd quickly run off to work the night shift. 

 

Anyways, how bad could he be?

\---

Nevermind having butterflies in his stomach, Peter had a whole entire zoo in there. He was just meeting some person who was a friend of May’s. If May liked them, Peter could too. Or at least that's what he told himself.

 

As soon as his hand hit the doorknob a low static tingling started at the back of his neck. He didn't hear anything out of usual so hesitantly, he opened the door.

 

“May?” He asked as the door squeaked open. “Are you okay?” 

 

“I'm good, is something wrong?” The concern in her voice matched Peter’s as he walked into the apartment.

“Um, yeah just the Spidey thingy acting up I guess.” His eyes flitted over the apartment checking to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. It must just be acting up. Or at least that's what he told himself.

Everything was fine. Except for the man sitting in Uncle Ben’s chair.

The one that hadn't been sat in since his Uncle's death.

“Oh! This is my friend I’ve been talking about!” May quickly recovered from whatever concern had been lacing her voice previously.

“Pete,” the man nodded in his direction. “Nice to meet you, I'm Brian,” Slowly the man heaved himself out of the chair. It was clear that the guy wasn't poor, like him and May, but it was also clear that he wasn't wealthy. Tentatively Peter took Brians outstretched hand and shook it.

 

“N-nice to meet you too” why was he stuttering? It's just a friend of Mays, not someone to get worked up about. But it was a guy. It was Mays guy friend.

“Good grip you've got there” Quickly, Peter realized that he had been shaking the guys hand for a few minutes longer than socially acceptable and let go of his grip.

 

In the back of his neck, his Spidey senses still hummed. They must be acting up. May wouldn’t befriend someone dangerous. Would she?

 

“Oh shoot! The pasta!” May shouted as she bustled out of the room.

 

“I’ll go set the table” Peter said as he awkwardly backed out of the room leaving Brian by himself. Within five minutes the table as set and everyone was sitting down for dinner.

“So, you play any sports?” Brian asked.

 

“Not exactly..” Did Spider-Manning count as a sport? It should. Oh wait, that would reveal his identity if he told people that. There was a muffled laugh from May’s direction.

 

“Do you like to watch sports?” Perhaps Brian was trying to bond over something with Peter. Peter wasn’t exactly a fan of this considering the days he wasn't Spider-Manning May was always with Brian ‘Bonding.’

 

“Nah,”

 

“Got a girlfriend?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“What do you do?” He knew he hadn’t meant for it to come across as rude, but it still stung.

 

“I intern with Tony Stark, and I’m on the Academic Decathalon team.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.” Peter, like Brian, wasn’t trying to come across as rude, but it still did. The tension in the air was higher than Peter on his pain meds(just a downside of super metabolism, or maybe an upside depending on who you were).

 

“You could say he knows a thing or two about boxing” May said trying to cut the tension. 

 

“Get in fights often?” the hope in Brian’s eyes was clear, which was slightly concerning since they were talking about Peter getting in fights, but the guy was desperate to connect.

 

“Not really.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The most of the night passed like that and before he knew it Brian was leaving.

 

“Is he, you know, okay? Like would it be okay if we got a bit closer?”

 

“What?”

 

“Like would you mind if we got to know each other a bit better and became a, uh, thing? He just makes me really happy to be around and-”

 

“Yeah he’s okay, May” Peter responded. He’d really rather she didn’t get to know him better in that way, but it made her happy. He’d have to deal.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah” No.

\---

Brian was around more after that. Like, every afternoon and he’d always be sitting in Uncle Ben's chair. He knew Brian didn’t understand the significance, but it hurt to see another man in Uncle Ben’s spot. He also knew May wasn’t trying to replace Uncle Ben, but it felt a lot like it.

 

In the following dinners after that first awkward night, Brian just sort of ignored Peter’s presence. It was clear Brian’s disdain for Peter grew as the nights went on. It was just a simple dislike of the other. Nothing more. Nothing less. Or at least for now.

 

“Peter, Brian is staying overnight today" Overnight? Like sleeping here? In May’s bed? In Uncle Ben’s spot?

 

“Oh, uh, yeah, um, okay”

 

“Only if it's okay with you of course” May rushed out at the last minute.

 

“Yeah” No. Brian wasn’t supposed to be this close to May this fast. From what he learned from school they should’ve broken up after like the second date! But then again, that was high schoolers that he learned from

\---

“Ned, a guy is staying over my house tonight.” Peter panicked.

 

“Cool! Where'd you meet him? Oh! Did you meet him at the internship?!" Ned asked excitedly.

 

“No, Ned, he’s May’s friend.”

 

“Oh. Is he nice?”

 

“I guess?”

 

“You guess?”

 

“I mean he tries to be nice we just don’t really, uh, connect.”

 

“Is he gonna take Uncle Ben’s place?”

 

“No.” Giving it another thought, he then stated “Or at least I don’t think so.”

For the rest of the day Ned’s words reverberated through his brain replaying over and over and over again. Will Brian take the place of Uncle Ben?

\---

The morning of the fateful ‘sleepover’ Peter groggily got up to sit at the table. Today there was no burnt pancake smell. Today Aunt May was not cooking. Today it was Brian. Peter knew he couldn’t complain about Brian being here for dinner, the guy tried to be nice, or at least he did the first night, and Peter'd been able to get better sleep now that He heard the correct number of heartbeats in the house, but that didn’t mean Peter liked him.

 

“Hey, Pete,” He hated when Brian called him that. Pete wasfor father figures like Uncle Ben and Mr. Stark, not Brian. “I can drive you to shool today”

 

“No, no I’m fine.”

 

“You wouldn’t be causing any trouble” May piped in.

 

“No, it’s good”

 

“You shouldn’t be out in the cold right now, especially since your Stark Internship thing.” that was their code word for Spider-Man. It was true that he couldn’t thermoregulate, but outside was at least warmer than Brian’s steely cold gaze.

 

“Pete, I’m driving you.”

 

“Fine.” Quickly Peter finished his eight pancakes and slung his bag around the corner. Slowly, as if deliberately wanting to make Peter late, Brian got up from his stool and said a long good-bye to May. “Come on” Peter finally said, his patience running short.

 

“Don’t talk to me like that.” Brian snapped back as he walked to the door.

 

As soon as they were in the car Brian turned over and looked at Peter. “You eat a lot you know”

 

“Yeah, I get hungry”

 

“You don’t need that much” Peter knew he didn’t need that much, but to do his night time vigilante activities he needed it.

 

“It’s a burden on May. She’s just too nice to tell you that.” Was it really? It wouldn’t be like May to tell him if he was being a burden though. It could be true. It probably was true.

 

The issues didn’t really begin though until Brian saw that Peter actually began eating less.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I lied. Peter isn't going to tell Tony until next chapter. This chapter is short, but I felt bad for not updating. I hope you don't hat this, or me for the wait.
> 
> Also, tell me if there's any mistakes (There probably are) so I can fix them!

For the rest of the day Brian’s words coursed through Peter’s mind. Not the eating less part, but the fact that he was a burden on May. 

 

At lunch, he got the smallest portion he could. When questioned by Ned, he answered “My stomach hurts.” At that MJ sent him a look telling him that even the most gullible of people wouldn’t believe that. He didn’t care because they stopped asking him after that.

 

At dinner, he ate one serving. Only one, small, small serving. He doubted it would’ve made a difference at all by the way his stomach grumbled later on that night.

 

“Are you feeling okay?” With furrowed eyebrows May asked.

 

“Yeah, my stomach just hurts a little bit.” Peter lied.

 

“Feel better soon.” At that, May turned and talked to Brian again. As usual, Brian spared nothing except a stern glare when May was fretting, to Peter. After that, Brian had a smug smirk on his face as dinner continued on.

 

“I’m proud of you.” Brian told Peter afterwards.

 

“You’re what?” Why would Brian be proud of him? Why had he been glaring earlier?

 

“For lifting some of the burden off May’s shoulders. By eating less. By listening to me.” Was he really? Brian barely knew May for a year now, yet he could notice thing Peter couldn’t. Did Brian actually know how to make May happier by knowing her for a mere 5 months, when Peter had been trying for years? It would explain why since knowing Brian, May had been happier.

 

“Oh,” He responded dumbly.

 

“Just listen to me and you can make May so much happier.” Feeling smug, Brian turned and left Peter to finish the dishes.

 

The next day at breakfast Peter claimed that eating before the subway made him sick. May, who had motion sickness, didn’t question it at all. Brian smiled. Peter was doing something right. “I can bring you to school if you want? It would make May feel better if you were getting to school safely.”

 

“Ok.” Things were still awkward between him and Brian, but after yesterday, he felt he was getting somewhere with him. If taking rides with him and listening to his advice was how he and Brian would bond so be it. What harm could it do anyways? 

 

Right?

 

“Sometimes me and May want to have some alone time y’know.”

 

“I don’t spend much time at the house though? It can’t be that much of a problem” Peter said. In hindsight, that was a bad idea.

 

“Peter, you really don’t understand do you?” As if it wasn’t tense enough already, the atmosphere in the car became tenser.

 

“Don’t understand?” Again, a mistake on Peter’s part.

 

“Peter, everything you do is a problem. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you coming home with bruises all the time. You make May worry. You don’t want her to worry? Do you?” Was he really that much of an issue? He didn’t think he was, but then again he wasn’t helping May pay the bills, and technically he wasn’t even really related to her.

 

“N-no, Brian, I don’t want her to worry.”

 

“Good. How about you come home at about 1 am? I think that would make her happiest.”

 

“But what about dinner?”

 

“You had breakfast this morning. You can have lunch at school too! Surely, missing dinner shouldn’t be that much of an issue?” Peter knew that this was wrong. He knew it wasn’t okay but what could the harm be? He was going over to the tower today anyways, he could get a snack there.

\---

It was noon when he got the text. 

~DM from Mr. Stark to Peter

Mr. Stark: I have avengers business today.

Mr. Stark: I’ll have to miss our lab time.

 

He knew that meant he couldn’t eat for the rest of the day. He knew his metabolism was going to be a pain, but what could he do? It wasn’t like Brian was actually doing anything wrong.

 

Yet.

\---

Peter spent the whole night patrolling until he was allowed home. Not eating and then patrolling until early hours in the morning was apparently not a good idea for someone with a super metabolism. Seconds after taking off the suit he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

\---

“Peter, PETER! Wake up. You weren’t home last night so you can do your chores this morning.” Wasn’t he not supposed to come home last night until late? And chores? What chores did he have to do in the morning?

 

“I’m gonna be late if I do them,” Peter groggily protested, wiping the exhaustion from his eyes. Or at least trying to wipe the exhaustion away.

 

“Nope. I woke you up early. Quickly get changed and then I’ll tell you what to do.” Once Brian had walked out of the room, Peter checked the time on his phone. It was 5:00 am. 5:00 am! That’d be two hours of chores that Brian must’ve prepared! Huffing, Peter got dressed and ready for the day. He had three tests, and the four hours of sleep Peter had gotten were definitely going to make the already difficult tests harder.

\---

“Peter, the floors aren’t clean enough.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The marks on the floor. They aren’t clean enough.”

 

“Those are scratches I can’t wipe them away.” This was the third week in a row Brian had been waking Peter up to do early morning chores. To say it wasn’t affecting him would be a lie.

 

“What did you just say?” Over the weeks, Brian’s temper with Peter had shortened yet nothing had happened except for a rise in Brian’s voice.

 

“I said I can’t fix them.”

 

“Say one more thing and I'll fix your attitude.”

 

“What do you mean?” Peter was never a morning person, and clearly Brian wasn’t either Peter observed as Brian began adjusting his belt. 

 

Turning back to cleaning the floor Peter’s Spidey Sense tingled, yet he paid no mind to it. It’d been doing that a lot lately when Brian was around.

 

Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting on his back. Startled, Peter looked behind him.

 

“Get back to work, or I won’t be merciful as I do this.” There was a cold rage in Brian’s eyes. Hesitantly, and much quieter, Peter scrubbed the floors once again as Brian whacked the belt against his back a few more times.

 

The mornings after that Brian would hit Peter with the belt unprovoked and much harder.

\---

Today, when Peter came home from school to grab a few things, Brian was drunk.

“Pete, wou’ ya stay home to’ay?”

Afraid to say no, Peter meekly sad “O-Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment! Please! The next chapter is either going to come out tomorrow or in a few weeks. That's just how it is with me. Sorry.
> 
> If you want to scream at me or something heres a discord server https://discord.gg/WDXH6uF

**Author's Note:**

> Was it horrible? I'm not super proud of this work but I promise that the next chapter is going to be better. I hope.
> 
> Remember comments are what keep writers writing! Give me a prompt, writing tip, or really anything!
> 
> Please?


End file.
